Photos: Atlanta's historic Oakland Cemetery

Oakland Cemetery, a mile east of downtown Atlanta, is a burial ground dating back to the 1850s. It is the resting place for 5,000 Confederate and 16 Union soldiers. John Bell Hood witnessed the Battle of Atlanta from a home that once stood on the site. • More Oakland Cemetery photos

Markers replace stones above 5 soldiers

Five Union Army soldiers who died 145 years ago were honored with new grave markers earlier this month in Richmond County west of Rockingham, N.C.

The soldiers were foraging when they were killed by Confederates son March 7, 1865. Their graves were marked only with large stones, according to the Charlotte Observer.

White marble, federally-issued tombstones were placed on the graves in an Oct. 2 ceremony while local re-enactors, dressed in both Confederate and Union uniforms, fired salutes.

Black Union soldier remembered

A black Union soldier, Pvt. Alan Bobson, who died at a Civil War field hospital in Lynchburg, Va., is being remembered by the local Sons of Union Veterans. • Article

The one and only 'Kill-Cavalry' Kilpatrick

I ran across this column on Union Gen. Judson Kilpatrick, the cavalry commander. An excerpt: "Reckless bravado soon earned him the name "Kill-Cavalry" Kilpatrick, a nickname that was not bestowed with fondness. He certainly had his flaws: he was arrogant, ambitious, blustery and egocentric, loved to use political influence to further his career, risked his men needlessly, maintained his camps poorly, got involved in sexual indiscretions, was bedeviled by rumors of bribery and corruption, and drank a lot (well, so did Grant, eh?). For all that, he was also regarded as fearless, and that counted for a whole lot." • Column

Soldier's headstone finally corrected

The headstone of a former slave and Union soldier no longer identifies him as a member of the Confederate army, after his family failed to notice the error for years. More than 100 of Samuel Brown Sr.'s surviving descendants and Civil War buffs gathered at Vallejo's Sunrise Memorial Cemetery in California for the dedication of his new headstone. • Article

Update on 42 Union artillery shells

I caught up with Henry County (Ga.) Civil War historian Mark Pollard on the status of the 42 Union artillery shells unearthed last year near Lovejoy.

As you may recall from a Picket article in October 2009, a contractor installing a new water line at a home made the discovery. The homeowner donated most of the Hotchkiss rounds to Nash Farm Battlefield, owned by Henry County.

Pollard told me at the B*ATL event in Atlanta this past weekend that the shells have been cleaned and are waiting to go into the farm's museum. The slow economy has hurt fund-raising efforts to make repairs and upgrades on the property below Atlanta. The museum did raise nearly $800 at a July 4 event and Nash Farm is planning the Simply Southern Jubilee and Re-enactment Battle in September.

African-American troops remembered

Two ceremonies took place in Rochester, N.Y., honoring African-American soldiers who served in the Union Army during the Civil War. The event took place at Riverside Cemetery and Mount Hope Cemetery and saluted not only Rochester soldiers but 200,000 black men who served. • Article

His hand-sewn flags are labor of love, tribute

Robert Banks does things the old-fashioned way.

Thousands of stitches are made by nimble fingers. Stars are hand-painted. Silk and wool bunting are used rather than nylon.

As for Internet sales? Sorry, no.

Making Civil War-era flags is truly a labor of love and tribute for the 60-year-old Clermont, Ga., resident who is an elevator mechanic by day.

Banks posted several of his flags Saturday morning before a memorial service at the Confederate Cemetery in Resaca, Ga. Participants in an annual re-enactment just up the road took part in the service and admired his impressive handiwork. Some of his flags take 80 hours to make.

“I am doing this to honor them,” the former re-enactor said as he worked among the graves of fallen soldiers.

An ancestor fought for the 32nd Georgia Infantry from Upson County.

Banks got interested six years ago after seeing the impressive Civil War flag collection at the Georgia Capitol. “It inspired me,” he says of the collection, which includes bloodied banners.

Since then, he has hand-sewn and painted silk, cotton and wool bunting flags. He makes both Union and Confederate flags.

“Silk was plentiful during the war,” Banks says. He holds up a Confederate flag that was pink rather than red because the color was available from England.

He eschews sewing machines, saying the results are crude. He either paints or embroiders stars.

It all depends on what was done nearly 150 years ago.

“I don’t ever try to age a flag,” Banks says.

Sunlight and humidity take their toll. “Wool really holds us. Silk is tough to work with. It wants to unravel.”

There are research resources. Banks looks at photos on the Internet and books and sees other flags at museums.

“The challenge is taking a photo and reducing it to millimeter scale.”

Among the reproduction flags he displayed at Resaca were the Confederate Army of Kentucky, Gen. William Hardees’, a Missouri battle flag and an 1840 Georgia banner. He showed me large Federal flags, including the 37th Regiment Irish Rifles of New York Volunteers and the 9th Connecticut, which were not displayed Saturday.

Two of his gorgeous works are at a Ringgold, Ga., museum. This week he is traveling to Fort McAllister Historic Park near Savannah to donate a 6 ½-foot by 10-foot garrison flag.

Banks also sells his flags, taking occasional orders from around the South. He recently produced a 34th Alabama flag. His “Fields of Honor” business flag advertises Confederate, Union, national, battle and regimental colors.

Works that take about 40 hours to make may go for between $450 and $700. The large Union flags with eagles, ribbons and tassels can take 80 hours to hand-make. They typically sell for between $1,500 and $2,000.

Banks sews all the time.

“I don’t this to make money,” he says. “I make them for me.”

Robert Banks can be contacted at 770-983-9696

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During war, some heroes had hooves

The National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Md., provides fascinating information on animal care during the Civil War. Horses and mules were the lifeblood of the military, yet the very act of feeding and caring for these animals was a monumental task, author finds. • Article

Picket poll: Union generals

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